Dr. Jenny Hoffman

Biography

Jenny Hoffman is the Clowes Professor at Harvard University, where she leads a research group focusing on the behavior of electrons in exotic materials. Her team has designed and constructed low-temperature scanning probe microscopes to visualize and manipulate electronic behavior directly. Their innovative techniques include quasiparticle interference imaging to extract the band structure of materials at the nanoscale and force microscopy to trigger nanoscale electronic phase transitions. Hoffman’s research interests include high-temperature superconductors, topological insulators, and strongly correlated vanadates, addressing deep physics questions and potential novel applications. Superconductivity, characterized by lossless electrical current conduction, arises from electron pairing at the Fermi surface. The discovery of high-temperature superconductors catalyzed hopes for widespread applications, albeit with notable challenges, such as cestration of superconducting devices due to vortex motion. Her lab employs magnetic force microscopy to manipulate individual superconducting vortices and quantify interaction forces. Additionally, the lab focuses on understanding competing order parameters that affect superconductivity, utilizing scanning tunneling microscopy to visualize these effects. Furthermore, her work on topological insulators examines their robust spin-polarized surface states and their implications for dissipationless spintronic devices and quantum computing. With a newly constructed molecular beam epitaxy system, her lab aims to grow novel heterostructures and investigate emergent behaviors in topological materials.

Research Interests

Experience